Parking barrier

ABSTRACT

An elongated bumper or curbing unit fabricated from poured concrete or the like for installation in multiples to provide a wall or border consisting of a series of individual units arranged and interconnected in an end-to-end relationship. Each curbing unit includes a vertically disposed cylindrical aperture formed adjacent each end thereof and a vertical slot connecting each of the apertures with its adjacent end. The curbing units are securely anchored to the ground and interconnected to each other by elongated generally U-shaped channel members which are inserted into the slots and apertures of adjacent curbing units and have a portion driven into the ground.

United States Patent Palmer [54] PARKING BARRIER [72] Inventor: Sherwin Palmer, 1711 Woodslea Drive,

Flint, Mich. 48507 22 Filed: Dec. 24, 1969 21 App1.No.: 887,906

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,744,479 5/1956 Hartle ..94/31X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Canada ..94/31 Canada ..94/3l France ....94/3l Primary Examiner-Jacob L. Mackenoff AttorneyHauke, Gifford and Patalidis [57] ABSTRACT An elongated bumper or curbing unit fabricated from poured concrete or the like for installation in multiples to provide a wall or border consisting of a series of individual units arranged and interconnected in an end-to-end relationship. Each curbing unit includes a vertically disposed cylindrical aperture formed adjacent each end thereof and a vertical slot connecting each of the apertures with its adjacent end. The curbing units are securely anchored to the ground and interconnected to each other by elongated generally U-shaped channel members which are inserted into the slots and apertures of adjacent curbing units and have a portion driven into the ground.

3 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJANZSiSYZ $536, 29

FIG?) FIGE 46 4 H69 60 49 H67 I, INVENTOR SHERWIN PALMER BYA M m/, M

ATTORNEYS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to curbing and more particularly to prefabricated bumper or curbing units for automobile parking lot barriers and the like.

2. Description of the Prior Art Many types of bumper or curbing units for automobile parking lots have been used, but typically, a curbing unit, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,794,375, comprises an elongated member having a generally rectangular transversev cross section for placement end-to-end with other units for making the barrier desired. Each unit is usually 6 to 8 feet in length to correspond to the width of one parking space and is fonned with a plurality of vertical holes, usually three in number, extending therethrough for receiving suitable fastening spikes or the like to secure the curbing unit to the ground. A vertically disposed protruding ridge may be formed along one end of each unit and a corresponding vertically disposed groove formed along the other end, such that when two units are placed in abutting end-to-end relationship the ridge of one unit fits within the groove of the other unit so as to interconnect the two units in coaxial properly aligned relationship.

The disadvantages of the prior art include the necessity of providing two separate means for ensuring proper alignment between the units and for securing the units to the ground, thus increasing the fabrication cost of each unit. F urthennore, each unit usually requires three stakes to secure it to the ground, thus requiring an excessive amount of labor and expense to install the units.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION secures the curbing units to the ground. The curbing unit of i the present invention comprises an elongated parallelepipedlike structure fabricated from poured concrete or the like. Each unit includes a vertically disposed cylindrical aperture extending therethrough formed adjacent to each end thereof. A vertical slot associated with each of the apertures and disposed in a plane parallel to the axis of elongation of the unit connects each of the apertures to its adjacent end.

To form the parking lot barrier, the units are arranged in an interconnected end-to-end relationship and secured to each other and to the ground by elongated generally U-shaped channel members, with each member including an elongated central portion and a pair of elongated side portions extending outwardly from the plane of the central portion in a spaced substantially parallel relationship to each other. The central portion of each channel member extends between abutting ends of the units within adjacent slots with the side portions extending into the apertures, securing the units together endtoend. A portion of the elongated channel is driven into the ground securing the units thereto.

Thus, the channel member both secures the ends of the units to each other and secures the units to the ground. By having the channel member serve both purposes the fabrication cost of each curbing unit is thereby reduced. Furthermore, a single anchoring stake, namely the channel member, secures the adjacent ends of two units to the ground, whereas the prior art curbing units required a stake for each of the adjacent ends. In the construction of a barrier, only one additional anchoring stake is required for each additional curbing unit, thereby keeping construction cost to a minimum.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The description refers to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a series of curbing units assembled to form a continuous barrier for a parking lot;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a single unit;

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a top view of a series of curbing units assembled to form a continuous barrier for a parking lot;

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a channel member; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a cylindrical stake.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, there is shown a bumper or curbing unit, generally indicated at 10, constituting the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The curbing unit 10 is preferably a prefabricated unitary construction formed of concrete, poured and hardened in an appropriately shaped form or mold, in a manner well known in the art.

The unit 10 is an elongated parallelepipedlike member having a horizontal bottom wall 12, vertical front and back walls l4, 16 extending upwardly from the longitudinal side edges of the bottom wall 12, and inwardly slanting front and back walls 18, 20 extending upwardly from the top longitudinal edges 22, 24 of the walls 14, 16 respectively. The top horizontal wall 26 extends between the top longitudinal edges of the walls 18, 20. The unit includes vertical end walls 28, 30.

Vertically disposed cylindrical apertures 32, 34 extend through the unit 10 and are disposed adjacent the vertical end walls 28, 30, respectively, substantially midway between the vertical walls l4, 16. Vertical slots 36, 38 disposed in a plane substantially midway between the walls l4, 16 extend inwardly from the end walls, 28, 30, respectively, into the vertical apertures 32, 34. Thus, each end of the curbing unit 10 is formed with an inwardly directed vertical slot opening into a vertically disposed cylindrical aperture.

When the curbing units 10 have been placed in an abutting end-to-end relationship, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the apertures 32, 34 and the slots 36, 38 enable the unit 10 to be anchored to the ground and to other similar units by means of an elongated channel member 40, as illustrated in FIG. 6. The channel member 40 includes an elongated central portion 42 and a pair of elongated side portions 44, 46 extending outwardly in the same direction from opposite longitudinal edges of the central portion and disposed in a pair of planes substantially perpendicular to the plane of the central portion. Preferably, the member 40 is formed with a V-shaped member 47 extending downwardly from the central portion 42 to aid in driving the member 40 into the ground. Members 40 are preferably stamped out of a strip of channel material with the member 47 resulting in a V-shaped groove 49 being fonned in the top of the member 40. It will be noted that the U-shaped channel member 40 may alternately be T-shaped and still perform its function equally well.

Referring to FIG. 4, when two or more curbing units indicated at 48, 50 are placed in abutting end-to-end relationship to form a parking lot barrier, the end slot 52 of the unit 48 is disposed immediately adjacent the end slot 54 of the unit 50. Thus, the two slots 52, 54 form a continuous slot between the two apertures 56, 58 of the units 48, 50, respectively. To secure the units together and to the ground, the channel member 40 is inserted into the adjacent slots 52, 54 and apertures 56, 58 with the central portion 42 disposed in the adjacent slots 52, 54 and extending between the units 48, 50. The side portions 44, 46 are disposed within the apertures 56, 58, respectively, securing the two units 48, 50 together. As indicated in FIG. 5, the lower portion of the channel 40 is then driven into the ground. Thus, the units 48, 50 are secured to each other by the engagement of the side portions 44, 46 and the walls forming the apertures 56, 58 respectively, and are secured to the ground by the lower portion of the channel 40.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 7, the channel members 40 are utilized between adjacent ends of the units 10 while a cylindrical stake 60 may be utilized at each end of the barrier to secure the end of the unit. The stake 60 is inserted into the cylindrical aperture and a portion driven into the ground, as

shown in FIG. 5, to secure the unit thereto. The use of the conventional cylindrical stakes 60 at each end of the barrier instead of the channel members 40 eliminates any protrusions therefrom which would tend to trip or injure persons walking past the end of the barrier,

It will be noted that if it is not desired to use the cylindrical stakes 60, the cylindrical apertures 32, 34 may be replaced by slots connected to the slots 36, 38 and extending substantially perpendicular thereto for receiving the side portions 44, 46 of the channel member 40.

By employing the curbing unit of the present invention, it is possible to erect a parking lot barrier in substantially less time than with a conventional curbing unit that requires three stakes per unit, since to construct a barrier with the curbing units requires the builder to drive only one more stake than the number of curbing units. Thus, a barrier having ten curbing units requires only nine channel members 40 and two stakes 60.

In the preferred embodiment, each unit is relatively short and, thus, relatively light so that a single unit may be handled by one man. Illustrative dimensions are: length 2 feet, height 6% inches and width 9 inches. In this illustrative size, the units are not excessively heavy. If longer units are desired, they may be fabricated with a length, for example, of from 6 to 8 feet. When longer units are desired, it is recommended that an additional cylindrical aperture be formed midway along its length to receive an additional anchoring stake 60.

It will be noted that the front and back walls 18 and 20 slant inwardly preferably at 35 from the vertical walls 14 and 16, respectively, so that as the unit 10 is struck by an automobile tire the unit is driven downward toward the ground, eliminating the need to drive the anchoring stakes deep into the ground.

Although I have described but one preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that various changes and revisions can be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A parking lot barrier comprising a plurality of curbing units joined in an end-to-end fashion, each of said curbing units comprising:

an elongated member having a base and parallel end walls projecting upwardly therefrom to the upper surface of said member, each end wall of said member being identical and having a first vertically disposed slot extending through said member from the upper surface to the base thereof, said first slot opening to said end wall throughout its entire length, and a second vertically disposed slot inwardly spaced from said end wall and extending downwardly from said member upper surface, and second slot, having a vertical surface offset from said first slot, said second slot communicating with said end wall through said first slot;

each of said units being positioned on its base with its end walls facing the end walls of adjacent units such that said units are aligned in and end-to-end fashion;

elongated anchoring members, one such anchoring member engaging said first and second slot in each of said adjacent units to secure said adjacent units in said end-to-end fashion,

said anchoring members each comprising a metal, channel shaped member having a medial portion and flanged side portions, said medial portion extending through said first slots of adjacent units and said flanged side portions being disposed in said second slots of said adjacent units, said channel shaped member being longer than the height of said units and having its lower end pointed to penetrate the ground and thereby attach said units one to the other and to the ground.

2. The parking lot barrier defined in claim 1, wherein said second slot extends through said member from the upper surface of said member to the base thereof, the cross-sectional area of said first and second slots at said upper surface being at least equal to, but not less than the cross-sectional area of said first and second slots at said base such that said elongated anchoring members are adapted to be inserted in the first and second slots at the upper surfaces of said adjacent units and extend downwardly therethrough to join said units to one another.

3. The unit as defined in claim 1, wherein said second slot includes a vertically disposed cylindrical aperture extending through said member.

* i i I 

1. A parking lot barrier comprising a plurality of curbing units joined in an end-to-end fashion, each of said curbing units comprising: an elongated member having a base and parallel end walls projecting upwardly therefrom to the upper surface of said member, each end wall of said member being identical and having a first vertically disposed slot extending through said member from the upper surface to the base thereof, said first slot opeNing to said end wall throughout its entire length, and a second vertically disposed slot inwardly spaced from said end wall and extending downwardly from said member upper surface, second slot, having a vertical surface offset from said first slot, said second slot communicating with said end wall through said first slot; each of said units being positioned on its base with its end walls facing the end walls of adjacent units such that said units are aligned in and end-to-end fashion; elongated anchoring members, one such anchoring member engaging said first and second slot in each of said adjacent units to secure said adjacent units in said end-to-end fashion, said anchoring members each comprising a metal, channel shaped member having a medial portion and flanged side portions, said medial portion extending through said first slots of adjacent units and said flanged side portions being disposed in said second slots of said adjacent units, said channel shaped member being longer than the height of said units and having its lower end pointed to penetrate the ground and thereby attach said units one to the other and to the ground.
 2. The parking lot barrier defined in claim 1, wherein said second slot extends through said member from the upper surface of said member to the base thereof, the cross-sectional area of said first and second slots at said upper surface being at least equal to, but not less than the cross-sectional area of said first and second slots at said base such that said elongated anchoring members are adapted to be inserted in the first and second slots at the upper surfaces of said adjacent units and extend downwardly therethrough to join said units to one another.
 3. The unit as defined in claim 1, wherein said second slot includes a vertically disposed cylindrical aperture extending through said member. 